Jack Wallen / Elyse Betters Picaro / ZDNET
The Browser Company has announced that Arc browser is going the way of the dodo and in its place will be a new AI-centric browser called Dia.
Arc browser was first released in April 2022 and was seen as a breath of fresh air by many. The UI was unlike anything we’d ever used, tab management was a standout feature, and it developed a very passionate following. Essentially, the Browser Company created a web browser that was as beautiful as it was functional.
Also: 5 ways Arc browser makes browsing the web fun again
Unfortunately, even though Arc was a triumph of design, the Browser Company is switching gears, in favor of a new AI-centric browser that will not be as “different” or “complex” as Arc.
The Browser Company believes it got several things wrong with Arc. The big issue was that the company knew the data pointed to Arc not gaining traction, but didn’t act on it. Second, the company stated that it should have embraced AI much sooner.
The perfect next step?
The Browser Company was founded on the simple idea that the browser is the most important software in our lives and it wasn’t getting the appropriate attention. That’s why it created such a unique web browser that offered a different kind of workflow (which was very effective) and even placed a premium on the aesthetic. Arc was beautiful and filled with all sorts of amazing features.
Also: 6 obscure browsers that are better than Chrome
But according to a letter to Arc users, the company had a big problem:
After a couple of years of building and shipping Arc, we started running into something we called the ‘novelty tax’ problem. A lot of people loved Arc — if you’re here, you might just be one of them — and we’d benefited from consistent, organic growth since basically Day One. But for most people, Arc was simply too different, with too many new things to learn, for too little reward.
It wasn’t until 2023 that it started seeing ChatGPT and Perplexity threatening Google. According to the announcement, that was the fundamental shift that could challenge user behavior. To that end, Dia seemed like the perfect next step.
But what about Arc?
You’re probably wondering: Could The Browser Company have integrated Arc into Dia?
The company is hoping that, with Dia, it can fix what it got wrong with Arc. Instead of novelty, the intention is to go with simplicity, and speed has become a foundation instead of a tradeoff. Both of these points mean Arc is out of the picture.
Also: Should you ever pay for Linux? 5 times I would – and why
The uniqueness of Arc is why I used it from the beginning. From the perspective of someone who really liked Arc, I fear Dia will wind up just another clone of Chromium with some extra AI baked in. I hope I’m wrong.
The Browser Company is no longer actively developing Arc. What should it do with this wonderful browser? I was hoping it would open-source Arc so others can pick up the mantle and continue building on it. Unfortunately, Arc isn’t just a simple Chromium fork, as it uses a custom infrastructure called ADK (Arc Development Kit), which is the Browser Company’s “secret sauce.” ADK also happens to be the foundation of Dia, so there’s no way the company will open-source the browser.
How to submit your feedback
The Browser Company does hope that Arc finds a future, and to that end it’d love to hear from users. You can email CEO Josh Miller to give him your feedback on what the company should do with Arc. If you enjoyed the browser as much as I did, I’m sure you have ideas.
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